Overview:
• A recent study reveals that book bans in U.S. schools disproportionately target children’s literature featuring diverse characters and authors of color, primarily women.
• Conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and Sciences Po, the analysis highlighted that 59% of banned books represented diverse perspectives.
• The increase in bans, particularly in previously conservative counties, appears linked to political activism rather than child protection, leading to concerns over underrepresentation of diversity in children's literature.
By Katherine Spoon, University of Colorado Boulder and Isabelle Langrock, Sciences Po
Book bans in U.S. schools and libraries during the 2021-22 school year disproportionately – especially women of color – according to a peer-reviewed study we published. They also tended to feature characters of color.
In addition, we found book bans were more common in right-leaning counties that were becoming less conservative over time.
These findings were based on a comprehensive review of a then-record in 32 states during the 2021-22 school year and compiled by PEN America, a nonprofit that defends the freedom of expression. The bans involved 1,643 unique book titles. We combined this with data on counties, sales of restricted books and author demographics.
While about the , there has been little empirical work done on their content, causes and consequences.
In our review, we found that 59% of banned books were children’s books featuring diverse characters or nonfiction books about historical figures and social movements. were “,” by Maia Kobabe, which was banned by 41 school districts; “,” by George M. Johnson, with 29 bans; and “,” by Ashley Hope Pérez, with 24 bans.
What’s more, authors of color – particularly women of color – were far more likely to be banned compared with white authors. Authors of color wrote 39% of the banned books in our study. Women of color alone penned almost a quarter of them. That’s even though authors of color make up and write less than 5% of the most popular books in the U.S.
We also found that while most book bans occurred in counties with a Republican majority, they were even more likely to occur in counties where that majority had decreased over the previous two decades. Districts where the majority had increased or grown stronger since 2000 were less likely to ban books.
Why it matters
The number of book bans has only increased since the data from our study came out.
In the 2022-23 school year, PEN America reported , affecting 1,557 unique titles. And its latest data, released Nov. 1, 2024, shows that the number of book bans soared in the 2023-24 school year to , with Florida and Iowa accounting for over 8,000 of them.
While those pushing book bans often claim , there is that book bans actually shield them from harmful content.
The costs can be high. They’re causing in the local communities where they are occurring, and some estimates put the monetary cost of implementing book bans in the . But because the focus of these bans tends to be on titles featuring characters of color or LGBTQ+ themes, there’s a risk that diverse characters will become in children’s literature.
This could negatively affect children’s and , even in schools not directly affected by these bans.
Book bans – often initiated by – are one of the most symbolic forms of censorship, but our findings also suggest they are being used as a form of political activism. This means that in addition to the traditional questions around censorship, such as what information children have or don’t have access to, there are questions about the political actions behind book bans and how they might attract or dampen a community’s civic participation.
And given our finding about where these bans are most often occurring and that we found little impact on state and national levels of interest in the targeted books, as measured by Google searches and book sales, it seems that many of these bans amount to symbolic political gestures aimed at galvanizing a shrinking electoral base.
What still isn’t known
Research on book bans is just emerging. Our study is one of the first, in part because of a lack of data about the publishing industry overall. We encourage future work to bring data together about books – to facilitate this, we made much of public.
The is a short take on interesting academic work.
This article is republished from , a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: , and ,
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Katherine Spoon has received funding from the National Science Foundation. This research was assisted by a Social Science Research Council (SSRC)/Summer Institutes in Computational Social Science Research Grant.
This research was assisted by a Social Science Research Council (SSRC)/Summer Institutes in Computational Social Science Research Grant.